As previously reported, 45-year-old Boris Gelfand, the oldest player in the tournament, convincingly won the Tal Memorial in Moscow. This week’s game was Gelfand’s third and final win against the American grandmaster who had been his chief rival for top honours. Commendably, Gelfand sought early complications with a sharp line of the Sicilian Defence which had the instant effect of unbalancing the situation, thus increasing the probability of a decisive outcome.
Nakamura-Gelfand: Tal Memorial, Moscow 2013; Sicilian Defence
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 The key move of the Sveshnikov Variation. Black weakens the d5-square but gains time by hunting White’s king’s knight around the board. 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Bxf6 gxf6 10 Nd5 f5 11 c4 This is extremely unusual and was met by 11 … Qa5+ in the game Volokitin-Eljanov, Ukraine 2012. 11 … b4 12 Nc2 fxe4 13 g3 13 Ndxb4 has been seen before but this is a new departure. 13 … Bg7 14 Bg2 0-0 15 Bxe4 Rb8 16 b3 f5 17 Bg2 e4 18 Rb1 Qa5 19 0-0 Qxa2 20 Nde3 Qa5 21 Qxd6 Rf6 22 Qf4 Qe5 23 Qxe5 Nxe5 24 Nd5 Rf7 25 Ncxb4 a5 26 Nc2 Rfb7 27 Nce3 Nc6 (see diagram 1) 28 c5 White’s danger in this position is that Black’s bishop pair may free themselves and cause havoc. For this reason the immediate 28 f3, or even g4, liberating White’s last remaining bishop, is better than the move chosen. 28 … Rxb3 29 Nb6 White is over-pressing. The simple 29 Rxb3 Rxb3 30 Bh3 leaves a position with chances for both sides. 29 … Rxb1 30 Rxb1 Be6 31 Bf1 Bd4 32 Rb5 Kf7 33 Nec4 Kg7 Black avoids the trap 33 … a4 34 Nxa4 Rxb5 35 Nd6+.
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